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Students from Cal Poly Pomona and Ganesha High School created hand-drawn books that told stories about race, identity and college.

Ethnic and women’s studies Professor Nancy Quinones has a vision: helping students to think of themselves as a resource for other students.

For her Contemporary Chicano Issues course last spring, Cal Poly Pomona students collaborated with students from Ganesha High in Pomona to create children’s books focused on a piece of advice they wished someone had told them when they were younger.

One book, titled “The Colors of the Rainbow,” follows an Afro-Latino student as he tries to find a peer group at his new school. The black students tell him he’s Hispanic, and the Hispanic students consider him black. Eventually, he befriends a Muslim-American.

“The idea was that we need to embrace our diversity of the Latino community, and the students wished someone had told them that,” Quinones says.

This story was featured in the university's magazine, Panorama. To read the full story, visit the PolyCentric website.